Bloodshed that's hard to beat

POSSIBLY the most eagerly awaited game of 2004 (a colleague of mine actually took a week's holiday just to play it). Grand Theft Auto San Andreas explodes onto our TV screens in a welter of bad language, gratuitous violence and dubious moral decisions.

Let's get one thing clear right at the outset: this is not a game for children. All the Grand Theft Auto titles are aimed at an exclusively adult audience and San Andreas is no different.

Once known for the Lemmings series of games, Edinburgh-based Rockstar North (nee DMA Design) hit pay dirt with the original Grand Theft Auto (GTA) and hasn't looked back since. Every GTA has met or exceeded our expectations. No surprise then that hopes for this latest game were high indeed.

This title marks a change of direction for the series away from the often glamorous world of organised crime and into the crime-ridden back streets of Los Santos, San Andreas.

Five years ago, Carl Johnson (CJ) decided to get out. He'd had enough of a city tearing itself apart. He was sick of the gangs, the drugs and the corrupt society where everyone had a price. He moved out and started anew.

That was five years ago. This is now and Carl is back.

His mother has been murdered, his family has been torn apart and the friends from his childhood have been sucked into a morass of crime and despair.

Even worse, on his return to the neighbourhood, CJ finds himself framed for murder. So now it's payback time.

A quick precis doesn't do GTA: San Andreas justice. It doesn't explain the branching plot that combs out in all directions, the multiple missions and the massive storyline. This game is an epic in every sense of the word.

As before, you are given a mission but not the exact solution to carrying it out. Just like in real-life, there are multiple ways of accomplishing your goals, a fact that gives San Andreas plenty of scope for replays.

San Andreas isn't a city but a state and the three main conurbations aren't linked by simple bridges as before but by countryside packed with tractors, quad bikes, cornfields and railroad tracks. The scope of this game really takes your breath away. There are scores of things to do if you fancy exploring. Hell, you can even go sky diving or hi-jack a train if you want.

CJ can be customised to your heart's content by visiting one of the many fashion shops in the game. Some of the game's characters even pass comment on your nifty new threads. Fancy a new hairdo? Then stop by a barber and browse the different styles.

He can be customised in other ways too. If you eat too much he piles on the pounds and gets sluggish. Forget to have some nosh and he'll start to look skinny. He may even find himself refused entry to some of the better gyms in the 'hood.

San Andreas even throws in a two-player mode, allowing a pal to join in the mayhem at various points. It's not split screen. Instead the camera zooms out to show both characters (although, as you'd expect, neither of you can stray too far apart).

The graphics are sharp but it's obvious GTA is now at the max of what is possible with the PS2 hardware. Glitches and slow loading times are almost inevitable on such a staggeringly ambitious title and sometimes objects just kind of pop into view because the PS2 can't handle the draw distance. As a game, it is crying out for the kind of pixel pushing power that's only available with a state-of-the-art PC.

In fact, GTA San Andreas is one of those titles that defines an entire gaming genre. Every free-roaming crime sim that follows will be compared to this game - most of them unfavourably. It's almost worth buying one of the new slim-line PS2s just to experience it for yourself.

VISUAL QUICK START GUIDES: Price: £9.99. Published by: Peachpit Press.

WHEN you're a computing beginner, the prospect of wading through a PC book can seem daunting.

If you want to accomplish something fast but don't want to get bogged down with the details, then this new series from Peachpit Press could well be the answer.

Eschewing the jokey tone of the For Dummies...series, the Visual Quick Project books take one aspect of a programme (such as creating a web page with Dreamweaver or polishing up a presentation in Powerpoint) and hold your hand through the entire process.

Along the way you will explore the majority of useful features offered by the programme under discussion. The colourful artwork and simple step-by-step instructions make them unthreatening and easy to follow.

As a gentle introduction to a complex subject, these guides work very well and at £9.99, they don't cost the earth.

Published: 12/11/2004